There's a Thin Line Between Love and Hate
by Cassy21
Summary: 'It wasn't passionate, or gentle, or perfect. It was Alex and Gene, Ma'am and the Guv. It was two flawed human beings seeking reason and solace and hundreds of other qualities that they could not explain.'


_**Okay, so I have had billions of Ashes to Ashes 'fics going round and round my head since Series 2, and this is the first tiny little thing I have managed to capture in solid, inescapable words. I hope you like it, and please tell me any ways I can improve - God knows I'll need them! Unbeta-ed, so any mistakes are utterly, completely and totally my fault :(**_

_**Disclaimer: Yup, s'all mine. Every last bit. Especially **__**Alex's** **hair. **_**_...I wish!_**

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Her eyes glittered dangerously. He narrowed his in silent reply, his action mirroring his argument. She pursed her lips, taking another step towards him and stabbing her finger towards his chest. He let her words wash over him, momentarily bored with the conflict. Instead he focused on her; on her hair, the curls bouncing angrily around her face; on her lips, accusations and recriminations falling indiscriminately from their shining confines; on her body, her long legs reaching endlessly up, up and up, and on her arms, waving around to emphasise whatever inane point she was trying to convey. He sniffed. 'You're wrong Bolls.' He stepped towards her, encroaching upon her personal space. This wasn't a conventional argument, but then they never were. They were never on one individual matter, though they superficially appeared to be. They were battles for power, for dominance, for control. They were for love, for hate, for friendship, for indifference. They were a way to prove life, as if their very existence depended upon the reaction they could provoke in one another. They were chest to chest now, her lips almost invisible they had narrowed that much, his eyes so cold and hard they were practically glacial. And still they continued, oblivious to their captive audience.

Shaz, Ray and Chris. Always there, unable to avoid the shrieking matches that were now commonplace. Yet somehow, the vicious arguments had become some semblance of normality. They were the Guv and Ma'am, and it was clear to everyone else in the office that the fiercer the fights the greater the results were. They were totally and utterly loyal to one another and to their team – no matter how much they screamed at each other, if anyone else attempted even to criticise a member of Fenchurch East CID, they closed ranks completely, isolating the unwanted intruder in their little kingdom. Ray saw further than many reckoned he did. He might dismiss it as merely sex, claim that they just needed to 'shag and get it out their systems', but he knew better than that. He knew that the Guv trusted and respected Drake unlike he did any other bird. Shaz knew less than the others thought she did. Yes, she was highly intelligent and perceptive – definitely had 'potential' as Alex was so fond of saying – but she was younger, and whilst not inexperienced, definitely more naive. She wanted it to be 'love', so badly, but how could people who were in love hate each other so much? And sex? Ma'am and the Guv would never do that. She was posh, he wasn't – they were from different worlds. But then, sometimes, just occasionally, when they were sat together in Luigi's, or working particularly well on a case together, complimenting and contrasting each other perfectly, then she saw love, and she doubted everything she had previously decided about the couple. Chris was caught in the middle, half agreeing with Ray's professed opinion that Gene and Alex just needed to get it over and done with. He tried to avoid thinking about it on the whole, feeling that as long as it didn't affect Shaz, him and Ray, and the rest of CID, then it didn't really matter what they did outside of work.

Shaz sauntered over to Chris and Ray's conjoined desks, carefully balancing three mugs of tea and a packet of pink wafers. 'Cheers Shazza', Chris murmured, busy scrutinising the action in the Guv's office whilst pretending to study case files. Ray nodded at her, taking a mug for himself and lifting his feet onto his desk, his surveillance of the dispute more blatant and relaxed than Chris'. 'They not stopped yet then?', Shaz sounded concerned.  
'Nahh', Chris shot a sideways glance at her, 'This one'll last a while I reckon, neither of them look like they're backing down.' As Chris spoke, the trio became aware of a sudden cessation in the crescendo of the argument – both Gene and Alex's voices had lowered to a seemingly spiteful hiss, unintelligible from outside the confines of the small office.

'If you hadn't been so arrogant, then I wouldn't have felt the need to prove myself!'  
'Oh, so it's magically my fault now is it? I didn't make you do anything Drake, it was all your own doing!'  
Alex stepped even closer to him, he hadn't thought it was possible, jutting her chin out in defiance and thudding her palm against his chest. 'No, it's not your fault Gene, it never is. You take no responsibility for anything! I was right to take the action I did, in the circumstances it was the only possible thing to do.'  
He looked her straight in the eye, 'Y'see, that's where you're wrong, Alex.' She shivered, for some unknown reason – fear, adrenalin, passion, anticipation? – but refused to back down, snubbing the urge to feel intimidated. He noticed though, felt his heart beat faster, saw her eyes darken with lust.  
'Oh, really.' Her voice was hardly more than a scornful whisper now, her pupils wide and black, but her body language remained hostile – her back was straight, her head upright and unmoving, and, almost unnoticed, the hand still remaining on Gene's chest had half-curled itself into a fist. She was unsure as to whether it was due to exasperation with Gene, or whether it was because she subconsciously wanted to clutch onto him and never let go. No, of course she didn't, it was Gene bloody Hunt, for God's sake! And yet... and yet, her breath hitched in her throat as she fully realised their proximity and intimacy, and she had to fight down the yearning compulsion to fling her arms around him and hold him close, to run her fingers through her hair, to mould their bodies into one tangled, inseparable mass. But she didn't, she couldn't. _Could she?_ The atmosphere was tangible, touchable, obvious, and neither dared to move or even breathe too deeply in case it was shattered; this was a 'moment', the type you read about in trashy books, not of the type you experience in the harsh realities of life.

It was noticeable outside of the little office as well; this strange change in the very air of the building infiltrated the larger arena of CID, making the three onlookers glance at each other for reassurance. This wasn't how it went. The arguments increased in their intensity, reaching a deafening climax before Ma'am or, less often, the Guv would storm out of the office, freezing anyone in their path with their fire and anger, banging the door behind them, and shooting glares at anyone who dared to offend them even slightly. And then it would all return to normal, bickering and flirting would resume, and peace would reign for a while. That always happened, didn't it? It would happen this time, wouldn't it? _Wouldn't it?_ And so they waited, wanting an end to this lingering tension. Waited for familiarity and routine, for noise and slamming of doors, for insults and meaningless words. Yet they did not come. Instead they were rewarded with silence, the tableau before their eyes remained unchanging. Eyes remained locked; bodies appeared to be intertwined, though they were not. Even Chris had given up the pretence of ignorance, instead openly looking through the plate glass at the wordless exchange taking place. ''Ere, you don't think... y'know, Ma'am and the Guv'll, y'know, get together?'  
'Bloody 'ell, you might be right. Oi, Shaz, you're a bird – feminine intuition 'n all – yes or no?' But Shaz never answered Ray's question, instead silencing him impatiently with a wave of her hand and shrugging distractedly. Alex's chin was still held defiantly high and Gene's lips were still dangerously narrow, but as she looked, there seemed to be an indefinable softening of their stance, nothing that could be pinpointed, but it was there.

'Gene.' It wasn't a statement, yet it wasn't quite a question, he reflected. It was a hushed, breathy acknowledgement of the situation. And it set his pulse racing like nothing before. He longed to take her face between his hands and kiss away any remaining vestiges of their earlier, now almost forgotten, confrontation. He needed to wrap his arms around her, to never let go. 'Alex.' It was more definite than her affirmation, but it was still cautious and unassuming. This was fragile, this delicate framework they had somehow created, and even the wrong tone of voice would fracture it, perhaps imperceptibly, but certainly eternally. She stepped forward once more, and it was that he would remember forever he felt, _she_ stepped towards _him_. He reached out a trembling hand, tracing over the line of her flawless cheekbone, feeling her lean an infinitesimally small amount into his palm, but it was enough. Blue eyes continued to meet hazel, like sky and earth. Her hand unfurled once more, her fingers now clutching at his shirt, as if she was desperate to prove this was real. She bit her lip, just once, oh-so-gently. He didn't know why, and frankly, he didn't care. She tilted her head and leaned in, oblivious and uncaring to anyone watching, and then, it happened. They kissed. It wasn't passionate, or gentle, or perfect. It was Alex and Gene, Ma'am and the Guv. It was two flawed human beings seeking reason and solace and hundreds of other qualities that they could not explain. It wasn't love, nor the beginning of it; it was a medium step, a mark that two lost souls were gradually finding each other. It was tentative yet confident, posh meeting common, smooth meeting rough. Hands touched hands, bodies seemed to fuse together. They didn't move in faultless synchronisation, they bumped noses slightly, and teeth caught where maybe they shouldn't have, but it didn't matter. They smiled against each other's lips, foreheads resting together as they paused for breath. He raised an eyebrow, she twitched her lip in return, an undeclared but understood agreement taking place.

And outside, Ray smiled, casting a sideways glance at Chris and Shaz. Shaz sighed, just the once, and just quietly, a grin plastering itself across her face, and Chris had the overwhelming desire to take her hand in his, intertwining their fingers, so he did. And then the moment passed. Work was resumed, criminals still had to be caught, and they took no notice of earth-shattering developments within copper's relationships, or of love and happy endings.

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_**Thank-you for reading my scribbled musings, I cannot express how infinitely grateful I would be just for the tiniest, miniscule review you could spare me! Take pity on me, I have exams! :/  
**__xoxx_


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